Girls’ Soccer Team Tries To Continue Winning Tradition With New Players

By Andy Hutchison

It’s a new season and there’s a new look for the Newtown High School girls’ soccer team with seven of 11 starters having graduated this past year. But Coach Marc Kenney insists this is not a “rebuilding” year and wants his team to continue the winning soccer tradition at Newtown High.

“We expect to win,” Kenney said matter-of-factly.

But the coach is realistic about just how much winning he expects. Kenney is shooting for a strong finish in the South-West Conference standings to contend for a first-round tournament home game. Masuk, Joel Barlow, and Immaculate are among the toughest teams the Hawks will encounter. Masuk, of course, is the biggest thorn in the sides of the Nighthawks and knocked off the Hawks in overtime in last year’s SWC title game.

“If we can fall somewhere in the middle I would be happy,” Kenney said of the outlook in the SWC.

In total, Newtown lost 12 players from a year ago, including ten to graduation, one to transfer and another due to a decision to not play. Among the notable grads were standouts Kasey Schulz and Tania Domingos (an All-American), along with goalkeeper Emily Kluga.

This year’s senior captains are backfielders Ally Modzelewski and Taylor Smith, along with forward Kristen Tanner. Other key players back in the fold are keeper Kate Pessin and defenders Meghan Bridges and Laetitia deBrantes, all seniors; juniors Sarah Attanasio, Lauren Meyer, and Ali Korchman; sophomores Maddie Keane and Arianna Papaj; and freshmen Amy Martin and Brittany Tolla.

For several years, Newtown’s soccer teams (the girls’ and boys’ squads alike, Kenney notes) have performed at a high level and been among the better conference teams. So does that past success put any pressure on the newer players?

“I actually think it’s a benefit because they understand the standards of Newtown soccer,” Kenney said. “There’s a standard we’ve set here and it’s long before my time — long before these players’ time — and they need to live up to it and I do too.”

Even though the team, as a whole, is young, it doesn’t lack soccer-playing experience, the coach said.

“They have experience. It may not be on the team but they have experience playing for really, really good club teams,” Kenney said.

In addition to on-the-field work, the coach said non-soccer related team bonding activities to help encourage the girls to play for each other will be key for this mostly young squad.

“I think our strength is going to have to be our team chemistry and it is going to have to be our work ethic,” he said. “It is going to have to be those two things for the rest of the season if we’re going to have a good year.”

Newtown kicked off the season with a scoreless tie at Brookfield on Tuesday. The Nighthawks have their home opener on Friday, September 18 as Lauralton Hall visits Treadwell Park at 3:45 pm.